Need a new car for my mom... recommend one?

[Jeff7181]

First, I know a lot of people are going to recommend foreign cars, and that would be fine, except the resale value on them is very high, and most are probably out of her price range. I'm looking for something mid size, about like a Grand Am, Grand Prix, Sable, etc. She wants a car that's much smaller than her '87 Town Car that burned to the ground... but it has to be big enough for family trips. We're trying to keep it under $10,000.

 

[radioouman]

Oh... it's a Mom thing. That means Solara.

Actually though, there are plenty of nice roomy domestics that you can get for a song. Second generation Intrepids are good. Taurus has always been good. Grand Prix's are pretty good.

 

[Doggiedog]

A "new" car under $10K?

Forget it. You are stuck with Hyundais and Kias.

 

[StageLeft]

Get her a used WRX.

 

[Vette73]

Best bang for your buck.....

Grand Prix, Buick Regal, Chevy Impala.


Those 3 cars are very good, IF TAKEN CARE OF. When buying a used car, the last owner is more inportant then the name. Try to find one of those cars with a 3.8L motor. Decent gas milage and very reliable.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

'99 Dodge Intrepid or Chrysler Concorde

 

[TheAudit]

Mom's Dream Car!

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Doggiedog
A "new" car under $10K?

Forget it. You are stuck with Hyundais and Kias.

I didn't mean BRAND new like a 2004 model.

Also forgot to mention, my brother works with GM so we can get their family discount... does anyone know how much that discount would be and if it applies to Certified Used cars as well?

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Demon-Xanth
'99 Dodge Intrepid or Chrysler Concorde

If you don't mind a tranny rebuild at 100k miles!

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Best bang for your buck.....

Grand Prix, Buick Regal, Chevy Impala.


Those 3 cars are very good, IF TAKEN CARE OF. When buying a used car, the last owner is more inportant then the name. Try to find one of those cars with a 3.8L motor. Decent gas milage and very reliable.

I see lots of the 3.4L V6's... are those not as reliable as the 3.8?

 

[StageLeft]

$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

Did you even read my post?

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Skoorb
$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

Did you even read my post?

Oh you need to cart the family around. Early 90's 300zx NA 2+2 then is exactly what you need.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Best bang for your buck.....

Grand Prix, Buick Regal, Chevy Impala.


Those 3 cars are very good, IF TAKEN CARE OF. When buying a used car, the last owner is more inportant then the name. Try to find one of those cars with a 3.8L motor. Decent gas milage and very reliable.

I see lots of the 3.4L V6's... are those not as reliable as the 3.8?

The DOHC 3.4L is the older motor. Its not really unreliable persay, BUT liek the dodge intrepid etc.. it has a very $$$ timing belt, water pump service. Not easy to really work on, etc...

The 3.1L, 3.8 are better around town motors. The 3.4L is a High reving motor, not a good choice for a family car IMO.
Now there are some 3.4L OHV motors, same as a 3.1L juts bigger. Those are ok, but pass on the DOHC ones.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Skoorb
$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

Did you even read my post?

Oh you need to cart the family around. Early 90's 300zx NA 2+2 then is exactly what you need.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Jeff: the 3.8 is a god compared to either of the 3.4s. There's a DOHC 3.4 that's a PITA to work on, and there's the pushrod 3.4 that's based off the 2.8/3.1 that's nothing to write home about. My '91 Grand Prix's 3.1 was okay, and never had any major issues. But I would've loved to have a 3.8 in there, which Car and Driver recently stated "is as reliable as sunrise".

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Skoorb
$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

Did you even read my post?

Get a really nice '01 or '02 Camry or Maxima in the $10ish range. If you wanna go American, I really do recommend Dodge Intrepids, as my fiancees father had put 160k on a 99ish Intrepid and has 100k on an 02ish Intrepid for work and only had to do oil changes, gas, and tires.

 

[FrustratedUser]

Originally posted by: Marlin1975

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Marlin1975
Best bang for your buck.....

Grand Prix, Buick Regal, Chevy Impala.


Those 3 cars are very good, IF TAKEN CARE OF. When buying a used car, the last owner is more inportant then the name. Try to find one of those cars with a 3.8L motor. Decent gas milage and very reliable.

I see lots of the 3.4L V6's... are those not as reliable as the 3.8?

The DOHC 3.4L is the older motor. Its not really unreliable persay, BUT liek the dodge intrepid etc.. it has a very $$$ timing belt, water pump service. Not easy to really work on, etc...

The 3.1L, 3.8 are better around town motors. The 3.4L is a High reving motor, not a good choice for a family car IMO.
Now there are some 3.4L OHV motors, same as a 3.1L juts bigger. Those are ok, but pass on the DOHC ones.

Umm, you mean the 3.8l right?

 

[Jeff7181]

The determining factor will probably be whether the GM family discount applies to Certified Used cars... otherwise I'm open to pretty much any make/model as long as it's reliable, roomy, and she's comfortable driving it.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: Redhotjrm

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: Skoorb
$10k will get you into an early 90's 300zx twin turbo. That's probably the best bet.

Did you even read my post?

Get a really nice '01 or '02 Camry or Maxima in the $10ish range. If you wanna go American, I really do recommend Dodge Intrepids, as my fiancees father had put 160k on a 99ish Intrepid and has 100k on an 02ish Intrepid for work and only had to do oil changes, gas, and tires.

Maximas are good as far as imports go because they have solid import reliability (not as good as camry/accord, but better than a malibu), an huge depreciation. $10k will get you a 98 or 99 fully loaded maxima with around 65k on it. I know because I've seen two like that locally recently and been tempted.

 

[Graphix29]

$10k? There aren't a whole heck of a lot of cars out there in that price range, unless it's really old or has a ton of miles. As we all know, American engines don't last as long as most Asian engines (that is one of the reasons Asian cars have such high resale value, they live forever and are more worth it in terms of the used car market).

And as for the GM discount. Wouldn't it make sense for you to contact GM to ask them how much the discount is? At least you'll get an accurate answer and have a better perspective on things.

Do a search on Yahoo autos to get an idea of what cars are in the class you are looking for and narrow it down to whichever ones look affordable and have a good reputation for reliability.

http://autos.yahoo.com/

 

[MustangSVT]

riced out civic.

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
riced out civic.

Or a 70's muscle car. Big and powerful!

 

[Red]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
riced out civic.

Yeah, you know... I was actually going to recommend an Integra with rims, but a Civic does seem to fit the bill on this guy.

Get a four door Civic. Get oversized wheels, giant exhaust, chrome tint windows, lower the bitch, stickers, etc. That would be sweet.

 

[Graphix29]

Originally posted by: MustangSVT
riced out civic.

LOL, I've actually seen a couple of older people driving those.